1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photography and more particularly to an improved latch for maintaining collapsible portions of a camera in an extended position suitable for picture taking.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, self-processing cameras have become very popular among amateur photographers. For reasons well known to those skilled in the photographic art, such cameras necessarily require large format film and dictate the use of relatively long focal length lenses in order to provide reasonably large finished prints. Accordingly, self-processing cameras are often of the folding or collapsible type which was common among conventional cameras at the time when the formats of most films for amateur cameras were relatively large. One type of camera well known in the art is that which may be referred to as a collapsible tubular camera. Examples are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 524,142; 1,061,115; 1,631,301; 3,668,992 and German Pat. No. 802,038 and German Gebrauchsmuster No. 1,215,544. In the cameras described in these patents a lens carrier is comprised of at least two tubular telescoping members, the forwardmost of which supports the camera's taking lens. When the camera is not in use the members may be telescoped into a tubular housing that is rigidly attached to the camera to form a more compact camera and facilitate its storage or carrying. To erect the camera the tubular members are moved to their extended positions. The prior art has recognized the importance of maintaining the camera fully erect to ensure that the lens is suitably positioned for focusing. To this end the prior art, as exemplified above, suggests that telescopic members in a camera may be maintained in their extended positions by the frictional relationship of interconnected tapered tubular members or by separate latches which are associated respectively with each pair of interconnected members.